Spence
08-10-2007, 08:38 AM
The Republican polling firm of Fabrizio McLaughlin has conducted a fascinating poll of self-identified Republicans in 2007, comparing it with a similar poll the firm conducted in 1997 to see how the party has changed in 10 years. The results are interesting.
- The party is more conservative; that is more Republicans identify themselves as conservatives. And the increase is dramatic. In 1997, 55 percent of Republicans called themselves conservative; today 71 percent describe themselves that way. Those calling themselves liberal have fallen from 11 percent to 4 percent, and self-described moderates have fallen from 31 percent to 21 percent.
- In 1997, about half of Republicans said their main concerns were social/cultural and half were mainly concerned with economics, about half being "supply siders" and half being "deficit hawks." Today, only 16 percent of Republicans are primarily concerned with economic issues. About half are still mainly concerned with social/cultural issues, but now more than a quarter of Republicans are primarily concerned with defense and foreign policy. Of this group, the bulk are strong hawks that support the war in Iraq without reservation.
Conservative NY Times columnist David Brooks mentioned the poll in his latest column (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/tsc.html?URI=http://select.nytimes.com/2007/08/10/opinion/10brooks.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=59186f1dQ2FRTmQ26RQ7BgNddQ7BRFQ3AQ3AQ27RQ3AiR6Q 3ARdDQ5EQ3BQ5EdQ3BR6Q3AQ26Nddlg-tQ7B98):Republicans are much older. Forty-one percent of Republicans are over 55, compared to 28 percent a decade ago.
Republicans are also much less economics-oriented. A decade ago, the party had thriving deficit hawk and supply-side factions. Now the thriving groups, as the study indicates, are organized around issues like immigration, terrorism and stem cell research.Basically, the gist of the survey indicates that the GOP has become older, more conservative, and more oriented around social issues, rather than the bread-and-butter economics issues that brought Ronald Reagan to power. That's also interesting, since all the current GOP presidential candidates are comparing themselves to Reagan and speaking about President Bush as little as possible. That's natural, of course, since Reagan is a saint in the party and Bush is at 29% in the latest opinion poll, but this survey indicates that most self-identified Republicans are much closer to Bush than Reagan on the issues that matter most to them.
I haven't seen a comparable study about the Democrats and how they've changed in the last 10 years. If you want to look at the Fabrizio McLaughlin study yourself, have a look at it right here (http://www.fabmac.com/7-07%20National%20GOP%20--%20Presidential%20Results.pdf).
- The party is more conservative; that is more Republicans identify themselves as conservatives. And the increase is dramatic. In 1997, 55 percent of Republicans called themselves conservative; today 71 percent describe themselves that way. Those calling themselves liberal have fallen from 11 percent to 4 percent, and self-described moderates have fallen from 31 percent to 21 percent.
- In 1997, about half of Republicans said their main concerns were social/cultural and half were mainly concerned with economics, about half being "supply siders" and half being "deficit hawks." Today, only 16 percent of Republicans are primarily concerned with economic issues. About half are still mainly concerned with social/cultural issues, but now more than a quarter of Republicans are primarily concerned with defense and foreign policy. Of this group, the bulk are strong hawks that support the war in Iraq without reservation.
Conservative NY Times columnist David Brooks mentioned the poll in his latest column (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/tsc.html?URI=http://select.nytimes.com/2007/08/10/opinion/10brooks.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=59186f1dQ2FRTmQ26RQ7BgNddQ7BRFQ3AQ3AQ27RQ3AiR6Q 3ARdDQ5EQ3BQ5EdQ3BR6Q3AQ26Nddlg-tQ7B98):Republicans are much older. Forty-one percent of Republicans are over 55, compared to 28 percent a decade ago.
Republicans are also much less economics-oriented. A decade ago, the party had thriving deficit hawk and supply-side factions. Now the thriving groups, as the study indicates, are organized around issues like immigration, terrorism and stem cell research.Basically, the gist of the survey indicates that the GOP has become older, more conservative, and more oriented around social issues, rather than the bread-and-butter economics issues that brought Ronald Reagan to power. That's also interesting, since all the current GOP presidential candidates are comparing themselves to Reagan and speaking about President Bush as little as possible. That's natural, of course, since Reagan is a saint in the party and Bush is at 29% in the latest opinion poll, but this survey indicates that most self-identified Republicans are much closer to Bush than Reagan on the issues that matter most to them.
I haven't seen a comparable study about the Democrats and how they've changed in the last 10 years. If you want to look at the Fabrizio McLaughlin study yourself, have a look at it right here (http://www.fabmac.com/7-07%20National%20GOP%20--%20Presidential%20Results.pdf).